Robin Hood | Thief of Skandia

Chapter 31 (Hero of Skandia)

Song: Song 2 by Blur

Over the next few days, it began to appear as if the council of jarls had chosen wisely. Erak quickly moved to end old feuds with other jarls, particularly those he had visited in his role as tax collector. And, surprisingly, he kept Borsa in the role of hilfmann.

'I thought he couldn't stand Borsa,' Will said, puzzled. But Halt merely nodded his head in acknowledgement of Erak's choice.

'Borsa's a good administrator, and that's what Erak's going to need. A good leader is someone who knows what he's bad at, and hires someone who's good at it to take care of it for him.'

Will, Horace and Evanlyn had to think that through for a few seconds before they saw the logic in it. Horace, in fact, was still pondering it some time after the others had nodded and moved on to discuss other matters.

As Oberjarl, Erak would no longer be able to go on his annual raiding cruises at the helm of Wolfwind, and that fact tinged his sudden elevation with a certain amount of regret. But he announced that he would be making one last voyage before he handed the ship over to the care of Svengal, his long-time first mate.

'I'll be taking you lot back to Araluen,' he announced. 'Seems only fair, since I was the one responsible for your being here in the first place.'

Will was quietly pleased with the news. Now that the time was almost here to return home, he realised that he would be sad to farewell the big, boisterous pirate. With some surprise, he recognised the fact that he had come to regard Erak as a good friend. Anything that delayed the moment of parting found favour in his eyes.

'Where will you be going Hood?' He turned to ask her.

She pondered it for a moment, thinking over her options. 'Iberia. I haven't stolen anything from them in a while. And the piracy there is incredible-- I mean how can a country treat their people that badly.'

Erak shook his head, smiling fondly. 'Want us to drop you off on the way there?'

Nodding, she grinned, 'that would be great.' Like Will she thought anything that delayed the moment of parting found favour in her eyes.

Spring had come, the geese were returning from the south and there were deer back in the hills, so there was plenty of fresh meat in place of the dried and salted provisions that had formed the bulk of the winter fare in Hallasholm.

The night before they were due to leave, Erak threw a farewell banquet in their honour. The Skandians were eager to show their appreciation of the efforts of the four Araluans and Robin Hood in defending their land against the invaders. And with the shadow of the sentence lifted from Robin, they paid even more attention to her – repeatedly toasting her bravery and resourcefulness in battle and in the prebattle tactics. Like always she continued to draw people to her, not even realising what she was doing. The people of Skandia loved her. Little did they know the Legendary tale of Robin Hood would be told for centuries to come.

Halt, Borsa and Erak sat in a quiet huddle at the head table, discussing outstanding matters such as the repatriation of the slaves who had served in the archers' corps. Sadly, many of them hadn't survived the battle, but the promise of freedom had been made to their dependants as well, and the details had to be thrashed out. When the subject was finally closed, Halt judged the moment right and said quietly:

'So what will you do when the Temujai come back?'

There was a deafening moment of silence at the head table. Erak pushed his bench back and stared at the small, grim-faced man next to him.